A roof rail for vehicles with a side rail and support legs, which support it with respect to the vehicle roof at least at the end regions, with an adaptor, which has been provided for each support leg, having a bottom surface lying upon the bottom of a roof channel and a top surface, which carries the respective support leg, with first, fastening elements for fastening the adaptor to the bottom of the roof channel or to a support structure of the vehicle positioned below it, and second, fastening elements for attaching the adapter to the respective support leg, has become public knowledge from DE 40 04 829 C2. In the case of this known roof rail, the first fastening elements consist of one or several threaded bolts with a first threaded portion, which can be threaded into a bore of the adaptor having an internal thread, and a second threaded portion, which is extended through an opening in the bottom of the roof channel, and a threaded nut, which can be screwed onto it. The second fastening elements include a first and a second bolt, each of which includes a bolt head and a threaded shaft, which passes through a bore in the adaptor, which is free of threads, and which threaded shaft can be screwed into a bore in the support leg, which bore contains an internal thread. When they are threaded into place, the bolt heads of the bolts are supported on the bottom surface of the adaptor.
On the one hand, the known roof rail is easily assembled, but it can only be disassembled with considerable effort, which is perceived to be extremely disadvantageous in practice.
The object of the present invention consists in making available a roof rail for vehicles which can be mounted on the roof in a pre-assembled condition, and which can be fastened from the interior of the vehicle--prior to the installation of the interior trim, is by means of screwing threaded nuts onto the roof of the vehicle in a manner, which is conventional as such, but which, in addition, offers the opportunity of being able to facilitate a disassembly without removing the interior trim of the vehicle and without loosening the fastening elements in the interior of the vehicle.
According to the invention, this task is achieved by the roof rail of the present invention. Further characteristics, which enhance the invention in an advantageous manner, are described and claimed further herein.
By means of the particular design of the second fastening elements, a separation between the support legs and the adaptors can now be effected, namely from the outside of the vehicle, so that the roof rail with its support legs remaining with the side rail can be lifted off of the adaptors, which remain with the vehicle. For this purpose, the threaded bolt, which is seated in the transverse bore of the adaptor, must merely be loosened far enough until its free end releases the circular groove of the bolt head in question. It should be pointed out that a simple disassembly of a roof rail is considered to be very important, and in particular in those instances where a repainting of vehicles is required.
The invention not only offers the advantage of the ability to be easily disassembled and re-assembled, but in addition it is also distinguished in that the attachment locations are completely removed from the eyes of an observer, and thus cannot have an unaesthetic appearance. The transverse bolt, which secures the attachment of the support leg to the adaptor, is located inside the roof channel and thus below a cover strip, which closes off the roof channel.
The invention thus solves the requirement of the automobile manufacturers of coming up with a fastening system, which not only is not visible from the outside, but which, if it is required, still permits disassembly of the roof rail from the outside, and in a perhaps optimal manner.